Classes on 9/2/17

9:00 AM
Basic Chinese - Pinyin 5
Instructor: Larry Wong

We are going to practice the Tone Pair worksheet with 1st and 2nd tones. Then we are going to learn the initials z, c, s.

9:30 AM Break

9:40 AM
JW Language - After the Greeting 1
Instructor: Gary Ishisaka, Ann Chiang

We are going to cover the first half of the unit After the Greeting under Words & Phrases.

10:10 AM Break

10:20 AM
Basic Chinese - Pinyin 6
Instructor: Larry Wong

We are going to practice the Tone Pair worksheet with 3rd and 4th tones. Then we are going to cover the initials zh, ch, sh, r.

10:50 AM Break

11:00 AM
JW Language - After the Greeting 2
Instructor: Gary Ishisaka, Ann Chiang

We are going to cover the second half of the unit After the Greeting under Words & Phrases.

Chinese Class Review 8/26/17

Basic Chinese - Pinyin 3 & 4. Neutral Tone & more Initials

Larry's rules of learning Chinese / Pinyin: Simple Initials b, p, m, f, d, t, n, l, g, k, h.

These simple initials sound exactly like their English counter-parts so you should have no problem with them.

Another thing we covered is neutral tone and tone change. Please see the Yo-yo Chinese below:

We also learned about the initials j, q, and x. Please see the Yo-yo Chinese below:

Your homework this week is to practice the tone pairs on the worksheet "Tone Pair Chart". Since we haven't learn all the initials and finals, don't worry too much about them. The point of this exercise is for you to be really good at putting two or more different tones together without difficulty. Record your homework on WeChat.

JW Language - Language

We covered the expressions and phrases of the second unit under Preaching Methods. Gary has a simple presentation for you to practice and record on WeChat.

Classes on 8/26/17

9:00 AM
Basic Chinese - Pinyin 3
Instructor: Larry Wong

We are going to do a quick review of the four tones we learned last week. Then we are going to learn the initials d, t, n, l, g, k, h.

9:30 AM Break

9:40 AM
JW Language - Language 1
Instructor: Gary Ishisaka, Ann Chiang

We are going to cover the first half of the unit Language under Words & Phrases.

10:10 AM Break

10:20 AM
Basic Chinese - Pinyin 4
Instructor: Larry Wong

We are going to cover the initials j, q, x.

10:50 AM Break

11:00 AM
JW Language - Language 2
Instructor: Gary Ishisaka, Ann Chiang

We are going to cover the second half of the unit Language under Words & Phrases.

Chinese Class Review 8/19/17

Basic Chinese - Pinyin Introduction and Tones

Larry's rules of learning Chinese / Pinyin:

1. There's no "Should be" in learning a language.

2. Pinyin is NOT English.

3. Pinyin ALWAYS comes with a tone.

We watched 5 videos from Yoyo Chinese.

The first video gives you a brief introduction to the Pinyin system.

The second video explains the importance of getting the tones right.

The third video teaches you how to say the 1st tone and 2nd tone.

The fourth video teaches you how to say the 3rd tone and 4th tone.

We covered six simple Finals: a, o, e, i, u, ü. The fifth video gives you more detail about the problematic final: ü.

Your homework for the Basic Chinese class this week is to record yourself practice the six simple finals with all four tones and share that on WeChat.

JW Language - Greetings and Introduction

We practiced the phrases in the first unit under Preaching Methods. Your homework for the JW Language class is to introduce yourself using phrases we learned and share that on WeChat.

再见！

Classes on 8/19/17

Aloha everyone! 你好！Welcome to the 2017 Chinese Language Class. Each week before and after the class we'll post up-coming lessons and reviews on this blog.

9:00 AM
Basic Chinese - Pinyin 1
Instructor: Larry Wong

Introduction of the Pinyin system. We are going to briefly go over the Pinyin system and discuss the 5 tones in Mandarin. Please bring the sheet Pinyin Tone Pairs Table & 20 Essential Words.

9:30 AM Break

9:40 AM
JW Language - Greetings and Introduction 1
Instructor: Gary Ishisaka, Ann Chiang

We are going to cover the first half of the unit Greetings and Introductions under Words & Phrases.

10:10 AM Break

10:20 AM
Basic Chinese - Pinyin 2
Instructor: Larry Wong

We are going to cover some simple finals in Pinyin. a, o, e, i, u,  ü.

10:50 AM Break

11:00 AM
JW Language - Greetings and Introduction 2
Instructor: Gary Ishisaka, Ann Chiang

We are going to cover the second half of the unit Greetings and Introductions under Words & Phrases.